Loving Memories
by ShadowNuri
Summary: Shifu promised to stay behind, allowed his students and the Dragon Warrior to run. What thoughts may have plagued him if Po hadn't returned to stop the fight? One-shot.


**Loving Memories**

**Shifu promised to stay behind, allowed his students and the Dragon Warrior to run. What thoughts may have plagued him if Po hadn't returned to stop the fight? One-shot.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Kung Fu Panda.**

**A/N: Some of you say you are confused as to why Shifu was grateful for Po 'killing' Tai Lung… Well, I figure this is the best way to explain it. **

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The Hall of Warriors whispered a silent cry as chilling wind wisped through its pillars once again, stirring up the tattered paintings that hung bleeding their colors on the wall. Everything lay dying in that bleak, lightless room; from broken urns to shattered weapons, everything cried out in pain.

In the middle of it all sat it's once strong protector: Shifu, now as ruined and beaten as the hollow palace he loved. The wind gently fluttered a soothing caress along his large, bloodied ears—his fur waving under the breeze's caring touch.

'_Rise, great warrior, rise...' _the air seemed to call to him, _'…Please get up…'_

It was almost as if the wind was the hall's pleading voice, willing it's protector to find the strength to move on. It flowed and curled around it's weakened defender, making his robes unsettle as it tried hopelessly to lift him to his feet.

'_Please get up, warrior...' _the breeze cried, _'…please get up…'_

Shifu's ear twitched as his body finally began to show life; he sat up slowly, painfully, as he answered to the hall's valiant efforts.

His eyes opened to reveal a dull, spiritless gaze—his face, stained with his own blood from the wounds that plagued his flesh. He had no more hope, no more heart, and sat unmoving as the air seemed to play with his torn, crimson dyed clothes.

'_Warrior…is it safe?' _the hall's voice asked him, before it suddenly whipped away with the wind—startled by the looming presence that lurked in the shadows. Shifu's eyes then regained their bright blue color, icy and steely they opened wide as a stroke of fear tore through his heart; another voice spoke to him from the dark, a voice he had hoped had gone away.

"…Are you proud _Master_?" The voice sneered at him from every corner of the room, malice and bitterness drenching each word as a bone shaking chill ripped down Shifu's spine.

He trembled as he uneasily watched the darkness close in, leaving him in a bubble of cool blue light—it grew cold, and soon a ghostly breath wafted about his muzzle.

"…I did _everything_ for you…," The voice, the monster, growled at him hatefully. "…I even _killed_ for you…,"

Shifu flinched as he heard a low snarl and snap around him, and instinctively laid his ears down low. His fur soon began to stand on edge.

"…So tell me…you _must_ be proud…," The voice hissed.

Shifu did nothing but sit in his place, bruised and beaten, he did not dare answer. He had no more fight left; he couldn't beat the monster that now had him on his knees, and with the palace in pieces around him—he had nothing to fight for.

"…Well? _Tell me_!" The voice roared.

He then received a blow to the side of his face, knocking him clean across the floor to hit hard against the wall. A shattered remain of the Urn of Whispering Warriors cut deeply in his leg, and a whole new wave of bleeding set in as the fresh claw marks down his cheek began to flow with red.

Shifu's eyes darted to find the source of the attack, but the monster remained unseen…and his fear intact.

He grunted in pain as he uneasily got to his feet, his breath uneven and frantic as he held his abdomen and tried to stumble in the direction of the Hall of Warrior's door.

He then felt a strong kick to his gut.

Shifu hit the wall again, gasping as he felt the 'pop' of his shoulder dislocating. He screamed.

"_Tell me_!" The voice bellowed at him as an invisible force slammed him back into the wall, holding him there by the neck. He felt the pinch of claws in the flesh beneath his jaw.

Through all of the fear, Shifu managed to summon an answer, "I could never be proud of a murderer."

With a roar he was then thrown, crying out as he tumbled— his shoulder popping painfully back in place. He came to rest in front of the Moon Pool, panting, eyes watering; all taking a toll on his body.

Shifu quaked under his own weight, unable to get onto his knees, let alone stand. It felt like his insides were burning…and as his muscles gave way, he heard soulless laughter on his behalf.

Shifu's eyes became heavy with both pain and misery, his blood making the stone beneath him warm while his veins ran cold. He willed the monster away, willed it to leave him alone—it's torture grew too heavy on his heart.

Then another voice graced his tired, worn ears. One he had thought he would never hear.

"…Baba?"

Shifu's blurry vision widened enough for him to see a small figure, one that seemed to glow ever faintly in the darkness around him. It seemed out of place, and as his gaze focused, his young son came into view. The warmth that filled his heart was indescribable; his son smiled at him, seemingly not knowing the danger that he was in.

"What are you doing?" Tai Lung asked curiously as he step forward lightly, his voice echoing quietly throughout the darkened hall.

"…You shouldn't be here..," Shifu suddenly realized as he tried to sit up, muscles aching as his body burned with pain, his own blood causing his hands to slip and lay on his stomach again.

"But Baba, I want to play." Tai Lung laughed happily as he jumped, pounced and pawed at the floor—his glowing form ghosting over everything and lighting up the shadows as if he were a firefly.

Shifu managed to muster the smallest of smiles as he watched his son trounce about, giggling childishly and inviting him to fool about as well. As weak as he was, Shifu had missed his son dearly. And playing sounded heavenly at that moment…

"Come play Baba..!" Little Tai Lung called as his form slowly started to dance away.

"…Wait..," Shifu called back quietly as he saw his son was leaving. "Tai Lung, wait!"

"Come play Baba…," The little voice beckoned as his son's form drifted farther away.

Shifu began to crawl, pulling himself with his hands and pushing lightly with his legs; a small trail of blood followed behind him as he managed to get a few inches from his resting spot.

"Tai Lung!" He cried out in vain as he watched his son dissolve into nothingness.

"…Come play…," The voice echoed one last time before leaving Shifu in the dark.

Slowly, he felt his heart break in two—his bloody and battered flesh meaning nothing to him as he tried to crawl a few more inches in the direction of the shadows, hoping, somehow, he might find Tai Lung there. But as his arms gave out and his legs had grown too exhausted to push anymore, Shifu could do little except lay there—broken.

The snake of anguish twisted and coiled in his gut as his throat burned and ached. A sharp pain in his heart left him with nothing more than the urge to cry.

Shifu didn't put up a fight when he felt that same, vice-like grip on his throat; and as the claws dug in his flesh, he had no complaint. He felt ready to die.

The amber eyes that glared at him were that of a stranger, of a murderer. Ones filled with only selfishness and hate: The eyes of his monster. Fear did not attack his mind or his heart as the monster walked him up to the Moon Pool— and plunged him into the water.

"Goodnight…_Baba_." The harsh voice said as it held him under, the clear pool soon waving lightly with his blood. Shifu did not acknowledge the words as he felt his head lighten and his world grow dark; he would not believe such words. Such _lies_.

His son had died almost twenty years ago…

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**A/N: If you don't get what I'm saying, read it over again and open up your mind. Anyways, review please…if you have the guts at least.**


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